"Lost” travelers turn into Town Hall, arrested with drugs

NEW SCOTLAND — A cop became curious when he saw a car driving slowly in the wee hours of Sunday morning; that curiosity led to three drug arrests.

“It was really good police work,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple on Monday of the work done by Deputy P.J. Milano.

Milano was patrolling Route 85 in New Scotland when, at 2:29 a.m., he saw a car driving about 15 miles per hour. “He thought, ‘That’s odd,’” said Apple.

The car turned into the lot for the New Scotland Town Hall and Milano followed, pulling in behind the car.

Milano spoke to the driver, Daniel K. Hahn, 30, of Fort Edward, who said he and his two passengers — Bradley A. Cormack, 25, of Warrensburg, and Shannon A. Murphy, 21, of Glens Falls — were “lost.”

“They couldn’t answer questions, and he could smell marijuana,” said Apple. “There was a strong odor coming from the parolee,” said Apple, referring to Hahn, who is currently on parole for third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell.

“Marijuana and crack was found on them and in the car,” said Apple; scales were found, too. The three suspects were taken back to the sheriff’s station to be interviewed. During the interview, Apple said, Murphy admitted she had crack cocaine.

“It was secreted in her female parts,” said Apple, noting this practice is not uncommon in “the drug world.”

“They know a cop can’t normally search there...We would have to go to the hospital for that,” said Apple.

He went on, “She was acting antsy. The officer said, ‘If you go inside that jail with drugs, you’re facing a whole heck of a lot more charges.’” This led to Murphy revealing the drugs, said Apple.

All three suspects face the same charges: seventh-degree and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

All three were arraigned in the Town of New Scotland Court and remanded to Albany County’s jail — Hahn with no bail, Cormack with $50,000 bail, and Murphy with $10,000 bail.

Asked why Murphy’s bail was so much less, Apple said, “That’s up to the judge...It seems she was asked to hold on to the drugs once the stop occurred.”

Asked if it were likely Murphy could have hidden the crack cocaine internally in such a short time, Apple said, “Within a couple of seconds of a vehicle stop, a heroin or crack addict can put it inside their body so fast it’s not even funny...It’s common knowledge, as sick as it sounds.”